The rancher I worked for had a little anvil that mounted off the drawbar so you had something (relatively) solid to set the rivets against. Once in a while-usually bad conditions-we'd mess up all the spares and then you had to replace teeth in the field. The spares were usually enough to get you through the day-you made all the repairs at the end of the day after it got too damp to cut.
If you lost a tooth you just swapped out the whole bar. We always had 2-3 spare bars when we went out for a day of cutting. I cut thousands of acres in my youth when I worked on a ranch in B.C.'s Cariboo country during the mid-60s. Pretty much obsolete in today's high-power, high-production world but when conditions are right you can still put a lot of hay on the ground with an old bar mower. I was going to quiz my dealer on Monday, just wondered if we have hay experts. One I have left has curve in knife plate, probably should get new. The original owner had 4 blades over the years, one was broke off a foot, one bent, took the arms off and tossed. A couple ujoints are oem and have a bit of play but minor considering it took 40 yrs of regular use to get that way, still serviceable and the minor easy hours I put on will be insignificant but I figure a sharp knife cant hurt. Rest of the thing looks in good shape, washed a ton of grease off the drive side, will check/change lube and maybe a new belt. I see you can sharp the knives but am going to replace them on one bar, the use/load I have is minimal, mostly a day or 2 a year but its got to go. Have one that is about serviceable but want to make a spare. I knocked the knives off of one bar I had, stole a pitman arm end off of another.
Didn't have the Bridgeport then, if I was to do it again I'd build up with weld, then use the Bridgeport to get a perfectly round hole.I know nothing about hay tools, seems I seen someone straighten guards on the cutter bar, I need to buy a couple spare, wonder where on the net there was info, the manual doesn't go in to detail about servicing blades beyond sharpening. Took the wire welder and built up the wore spot then used a die grinder to make it round again.
I did have something similar on a grain platform though, had a 3/4' bolt thru it and the hole was egg shaped, never broke the bolt but was impossible to keep tight. Thats another possibility I hadn't thought of as our New Holland never had that, bolts would last long enough to wear a few of the bushings out in the sickle head then snap. If you could rivet it somehow that would take up the slack in the worn holes. Probably slightly worn holes allowing the bolts to wear and then break. Also check the register on the sickle and make sure if any adjustment is available that it is adjusted correctly. Also make sure you don't have any guards bend up from hitting rocks, stones, or other obstructions. Make sure you have good guards, sections and that the knife back isn't wore. Would usually eat up the rubber bushings in the knife head then every couple of bushings would shear the grade 8 bolt that connected the knife head to the box. If it's the bolt that connects the knife head to the wobble box it was a common problem with the 495 as well. Is it the bolts that hold the wobble box to the frame or the bolt that connects the knife to the wobble box? We used to have a New Holland 495, was a 12' cut but with a single wobble box unlike the 499 which used dual 6' sickles with dual wobble boxes. UT done a test on the recovery time on orchard grass cutting it at 1 inch compared to 4 inches and it was unreal how much faster it started growing than the grass cut close. We have started cutting about 4 inches high and it has helped a bunch with keeping a good stand of grass. Also the quality of hay you are cutting can help help you decide whether you need the1110 or a disc mower. It will be a lot slower than a disc mower. I would check it out and if it has been well maintained I would not be afraid of it. Dad uses the 1110 all the time and it does a great job crimping the hay. Hesston 1010 hydroswing swather discussion in the Implement Alley forum at Yesterday's Tractors.
Hard to see, but here are my rollers, before. Timing the rolls is not hard, nor setting the gap, but you will need a manual to do it. Each listing with your parts book or service manual.
Hesston 1014 Series Hydro-Swing Mower Conditioner. Lease verify eash listing with your parts book or service manual.